mathcounts notes

Saturday, August 1, 2015

Quotes from that article "According to research from the University of California, Los Angeles, as many as 60 percent of all college students who intend to study a STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) subject end up transferring out. In an era when politicians and educators are beside themselves with worry over American students’ lagging math and science scores compared to the whiz kids of Shanghai and Japan, this attrition trend so troubles experts it has spawned an entire field of research on “STEM drop-out,” citing reasons from gender and race to GPAs and peer relationships."A Skill for the 21st Century: Problem Solving by Richard Rusczyk, founder of "Art of Problem Solving".

Friday, July 24, 2015

I just did not get the opportunity earlier to thank you for all your help. _____ was able to make to the National MathCounts largely because of your excellent guidance and coaching. I do not know how to thank you. He had a great once-in-a-lifetime experience there and he really loved the competition as well as meeting other people.

If you can please provide me your mailing address, he wants to send you a gift as a token of thanks for your guidance and tutoring.

Sincerely,

Dear Mrs. Lin,

I have been meaning to tell you, but just didn't get the time. He just 'LOVES' your sessions. He said he is learning so much and gets to do lots of problems and he likes all the tips/shortcuts you are teaching. He looks forward to your session - he was so upset when we couldn't get back on time from _____ because he didn't want to miss your session. Honestly we came back Tue night only because he cried so much that he didn't want to miss your class:)

In school, his teacher focuses more on details like, put all the steps, write neatly, don't disturb the class by asking unnecessary questions, don't ask for more work, behave properly etc....so he is not too happy with math in school.

Thank you so much for making such a big difference in his life. He enjoys doing the homework you are assigning him and has not complained at all. He said "Mrs Lin is so smart and I love her classes...wish she lived next to our house...so I can go to her and have live classes' [disclaimer : I'm not ; my students are much smarter than I and I learn along with them and it's exhilarating ] Thank you so much!!

One thing he said was it would be helpful if he can have targeted practice worksheets on the tips covered during the class, after that class, so he can practice those shortcuts/tips more.

Hello Mrs. Lin,

This is ______ 's mom. We greatly appreciate your help in working with______, keeping him motivated and providing him wth constantencouragement. We are fortunate to have great mentors like you who

are so selfless in their services to our younger generation.

We have a request, can you please share your address. ______ wantedto send you a card to express his thanks.

BTW, _______ has his chapter level competition tomorrow.

Warm Regards

Mrs. Lin,

Good Afternoon.

Me and my son, ___ and I, have used your blog pages and got a great insight into several of the techniques that you use to solve the problems. I am glad to inform you that _____ was placed 14th in the State Mathcounts for ____. Your blog information has helped us a lot in this preparation and we really want to appreciate all that you do in sharing the information.

_____ is completing Geometry this year and he hopes to have a exciting next year for AMC 8 and Mathcounts. We hope to learn a lot more from your blog pages.

Regards,

Hi Mrs Lin,

I just finished The One World School House by Salman Khan and I have been thinking of you and the online community you created. Even though _____ and ____ have taken web based courses before, what makes your class different is your inspiration and enthusiasm - you really care about them as unique individuals and you sincerely expect the best from them, more than they (and I sometimes) think they can achieve. Thank you for encouraging them to become a more responsible and self driven learner.Dear Mrs.Lin,

I went to NSF tests today and got first place in the Math Bee III. The problems didn't seem that bad although I'm waiting to see my score online. I will most likely be going to nationals which will be held in Ohio this year so that's convenient. Lastly I would like to thank you for all you have done for me. I believe I've grown much more as a student under you and really appreciate everything you have shown me and taught me. I wouldn't be succeeding now if it wasn't for you. :)

Sincerely,

So far,in January state, in algebra 2 he came individual 2nd and one regional February he came 1st (competing with same state high school students while as an 8th grader) He could not participate in one regional bec of conflict with MathCounts chapter. We also want to share with you that he got admission into a private school for 9th gr with 100% scholarship. [more than 50 students in that high school are national merit semifinalists, so highly competitive]Thank you,A elementary whiz kid, national winners at Math Kangaroo and Math Olympiad.

_____ will be off to summer sleep away camp where he is not allowed to have any electronics starting _____.

_________ will be his last class with you for over a month. He really has been enjoying it and just so you know I never have to ask him twice to do the work- crazy because everything else I ask him to do takes at least 5 tries :)

He will be back online with you at _______ .

There are many more but I'll take my time to update/upload these infor. sheets. To be continued ... I'm quite busy these days with resuming our Math Circle + many other projects (my students don't just excel at math, but many other areas equally fun and challenging + most Asian students have much bigger problems with critical reading/not to mention writing, taking initiatives and being strong leaders, and those are my other projects. Work-Life balance is upmost important. Less is more.

About Me

Conducts online group lessons.
Mentors inquisitive students across the states, guides and learns with them.
Finds the best materials at the lowest costs to help students get a top-notch education.
Main focus : Problem solving, critical thinking, SAT harder/hardest problems prep, independent projects, academic consultant (Find the better fit.)
My best state/national level students push themselves, not the other way around.